IMPSTOFF ZUR BEHANDLUNG VON ATHEROSCLEROSIS

The present invention relates to novel vaccine therapies, and prophylactic treatments of atherosclerotic diseases. Accordingly there is provided, immunogens comprising apolipoproteins, or fragments or derivatives thereof, which in their native form the whole apolipoprotein has at least one of the following activities: (a) the inhibition of the binding of Apolipoprotein B to its receptor, and, or, (b) the inhibition of lipoprotein lipase. A preferred example of one such apolipoprotein is Apolipoprotein C-III (ApoCIII). The vaccines of the present invention, comprising said immunogens, are potent in the prevention, or reduction, of atherosclerotic plaque formation over prolonged periods of time, thereby reducing the potential of atheroslerosis leading to coronary or cerebrovascular disease. Accordingly, there is provided a novel method of treating atherosclerosis by selectively inhibiting the activity of specific apolipoproteins in a human host, and in a preferred aspect of the invention the apolipoprotein is ApoCIII, comprising administering an agent which results in the selective inhibition of the apolipoprotein activity to a human. Also provided are methods of treating or preventing atherosclerosis by active vaccination, or passive vaccination through administration to a patient of an antibody that is capable of binding to an apolipoprotein that has at least one of the following activities: (a) the inhibition of the binding of Apolipoprotein B to its receptor, and, or, (b) the inhibition of lipoprotein lipase; and in this aspect of the present invention the antibody preferably binds to and abrogates the activity of ApoCIII. There is further provided the use of the immunogens or vaccines of the present invention in medicine, and methods of their production.